Serj Tankian, lead singer of the world renowned metal group System Of A Down, has been trekking down the solo road for half a decade now. He’s left in his wake a slew of music that, improbable as it might seem, is even weirder than SOAD itself. That said, you can’t help but get sucked into his imagery and infectious beats. Harakiri is Serj’s third and latest solo album, released on July 10th, 2012.
Harakiri is, at its heart, a call to arms. Pollution, obesity, starvation, war, corporate greed, reality TV: all signs of our impending self-induced societal collapse if we don’t do something about it now! It’s hardly unexpected to hear Serj incorporate strong political views into his music. He’s been fighting a governmental cover-up of the Armenian Genocide which occurred during the first few decades of the twentieth century now for years and using his music as a tool to deliver his message. On Harakiri, the title track focuses on the recent and mysterious mass-deaths of animals all over the globe. This idea of “Mother Nature vs. Capitalism” gives his view a new angle, and feeds the punk rock power that this album exudes en masse.
And now, onto the music!
Serj’s writing style, unlike SOAD’s guitar-centric song format, relies heavily on vocal harmonies to create the power desired to catch the listener’s ear. Even when the instruments – which in my head take a backseat to the vocals on all of his solo albums – jump around to create some strange chord progressions, Serj locks onto the harmonies like a laser guided missile. The album starts off with “Cornucopia,” a surprisingly upbeat and poppy song considering the lyrics being spouted:
“Sever the head of cornucopia
We fuck the earth and don't know why it cries.
Do you believe in stormy weather?
Hurricanes play musical chairs with homes and chattel
The whirling dervish tornadoes reap all disaster
Seaside tsunamis give and take, what's the matter?”
Almost every song on the album has some sort of reference to the environmental decline of our modern world. “Butterfly” is another of my favorites with a chorus that pounds itself deep into my heart singing:
“We are being sacrificed by our own suspicions
We are being sodomized by repetitions”
…
“Why can't we switch automatically to Eco-centric persuasions?
Why can't we ditch autocracy for Eco-centric persuasions now?”
I’ll stop quoting Serj’s lyrics now, although it’s incredibly tempting to do so for every single song on the album. Other favorites of mine, which include amazing, moving lyrics are “Occupied Tears,” “Forget Me Knot,” and “Uneducated Democracy,” the latter proudly announcing, “Thanks for allowing us to fuck you behind closed doors!”
Harakiri is the first in a new series of four solo albums from Serj, each of which will focus on a certain genre of music. Harakiri is his punk/rock album, and will be tentatively followed by Jazz-Iz-Christ, Orca, and Fuktronic, which will be jazz, orchestral, and electronic albums respectively.
I’ve always been a big fan of System Of A Down and Serj and even Scars On Broadway (morally and ideologically bankrupt as that album can be) – the side project undertaken by Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan. Serj’s first solo effort, Elect The Dead, was great in its weirdness and weird in its greatness. Imperfect Harmonies, his second solo outing, was hard to grasp at first but an enjoyable listen nonetheless. Harakiri, caught my ear and my mind instantly, and evoked the nostalgia of the old SOAD while, at the same time, opening up my heart to a future where once again music can be both political and an enjoyable listen.
Artist:
www.serjtankian.com/splash/
www.myspace.com/serjtankian
www.facebook.com/SerjTankian
www.twitter.com/serjtankian
Album:
Harakiri is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
